Electronic Production
Wed, 2010-08-04 09:15
Hello,
I'm interested in producing electronic music using Ardour on Linux, and I have one question:
Can I use Ardour to produce electronic music with virtual instruments, effects, samples ... (like Cubase, Fruity Loops, ...)
Thx !
Fri, 2010-08-06 19:43
#2
I have switched to Ardour as my central tool for electronic music production even though I can't host instruments and do MIDI programming in it...yet. I am getting a LOT done in Ardour by focussing on editing (especially micro-sonic editing, which is unspeakably fun) but editing has always been a big part of my process and I know that isn't the case for everybody.
If you need integrated MIDI and instrument hosting along with multi-track audio you might try LMMS (Linux MultiMedia Studio). I took it for a spin a few months ago and found it quite usable. It comes with some good synths. If I needed to do programming today that is probably what I would reach for...well, that or Hydrogen, if it was beats.
Ardour 3 will support MIDI editing. Don't ask when it's coming out. Nobody knows.
two answers:
1. generally, yes. ardour is powerful, open and flexible tool and it is not limited genre- or instrument-wise. you can use it to produce all kinds of music, including electronic music with virtual instruments, effects, samples.
2. however, from the way your question is formulated i assume you might be looking rather for some kind of all-in-one sequencer or looper/pattern editor. if so, you'd be probably disappointed - ardour doesn't make these things particularly easy (although they're not quite impossible). it is primarily a DAW - advanced multitrack recorder/mixer.
please read this:
http://www.ardour.org/key_features
i often work with other software like renoise, qsynth, hydrogen etc. to do the sequencing/sampling/loops/virtual instruments jobs. at the later stage of the composition process, i then put it all into ardour and use it to edit and mix the whole thing. i can't say this workflow is ideal for everybody, but for me it works great.
tomas